


Love Like That

by sunxdancer



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, I just had to write something Mal/evie centric, bi!mal, but everyone else is cool with it, but they are older, gay!evie, may throw jay/carlos in too I don't know, mostly Evie dosent want to accept she likes girls, not really sure where this is going tbh, possible trigger of slight internalized homophobia, there is some drinking, they behave like actual teens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-22 01:28:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12470420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunxdancer/pseuds/sunxdancer
Summary: In which Evie cannot reconcile with the fact that she may like girls, has a huge ass crush on a bisexual Mal, and doesn't know what to do with it. This will be fluffy, a little angst but nothing serious, slight internalized homophobia at the beginning (TW) Malvie endgame. Written in alternating Mal/Evie POV.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been inspired to write anything for a pairing in awhile, but Evie and Mal are just too perfect for each other, so here is my little drabble. not sure how long its going to be. The VKs are older (like 17-18) and still at Auradon Prep but it's more of a college experience and Ben is not King yet. Action actually picks up next chapter!  
> Also I literally just took the title from a song please suggest something better.

_Mal_

Evie let out a long, weary sigh as she flopped down onto her bed. Across the room from her, Mal, who had been deep in concentration on a sketch looked up at the girl sprawled unceremoniously onto her covers. She was trying to kick her shoes off without moving from her current position, and Mal stifled a giggle as she watched Evie wriggle around on the bed. The girl had an uncanny ability to be graceful while doing almost anything, but this was not one of those times.

Mal got up from bed and swiftly crossed the room to Evie’s bed. She helped the girl pull her shoes off then sat down on the bed, resting a hand on her head and starting to gently pull her fingers through wavy blue hair. As a general rule, Mal did not appreciate being touched by anyone; her little family of Evie, Jay, and Carlos were the only exceptions. Although Jay was more likely to punch her in the shoulder than hug her, and Carlos, who had always been awkward around displays of strong emotions, liked to pat her on the head when he thought she needed comfort. Evie, on the other hand, loved to receive and initiate physical contact, which had slowly bled into her relationship with Mal, so she didn’t even think twice about threading her fingers through Evie’s hair and smiled when she heard what sounded like a contented sigh.

“What’s up E? Long day?” Evie grumbled something, her voice muffled by the mattress she currently had her face shoved into. “Eves?” Evie turned her head to the side to look at Mal, and she was shocked to find tears filling her roommate’s warm brown eyes. Mal’s own eyes simultaneously widened in concern and narrowed in anger at whoever or whatever had caused Evie to cry. Evie must have seen the look in her eyes, because she placed a hand on Mal’s and shook her head. “I broke up with Doug” she said with a dramatic moan, before shoving her face back into the mattress.

Mal let out a deep sigh, a little disappointed that she didn’t have to beat anyone up on Evie’s behalf, but also not surprised at this information. Most times she knew Evie better than she knew herself, and although the girl was clearly happy around Doug, she acted as if he was more of a friend than a boyfriend. Mal knew that a breakup was imminent, once Evie was honest with herself about how she really felt about Doug, and it seemed that the day had come. That was how Mal had known she had to end her relationship with Ben. Although she loved him, she felt for him what she felt for Jay or Carlos, a brotherly love coupled with a fierce protectiveness. Her protective nature kept her from breaking up with him sooner, unwilling to hurt him.

Mal was still getting used to taking into account other people’s feelings and emotions, and once she had started to do it with Evie, and then the boys, it seemed that she couldn’t stop thinking about how her actions affected those she loved. Of course, anyone who was on her shit list, or even her neutral list, was met with the fiery, crass persona that Mal has developed on the Isle, but her friends were treated to a softer version of Mal, and as much as she loathed to admit it, Mal almost liked being able to show her softer side sometimes. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

That side of herself had kept her with Ben for almost 4 months after the cotillion ball. The idea of breaking up with Ben was on her mind, but she was content enough and he seemed so happy that she smothered down that part of herself that wished for something more. It wasn’t until one night, after a picnic by the lake, that Ben had walked her back to the dorm and kissed her goodnight, and Mal felt nothing, that she knew it wasn’t fair to him or to her to continue on like this.

She had felt passion before, that wild flame of desire that burned through her stomach and chest. The Isle was nowhere near as conservative as Auradon, and Mal figured out fairly early on that the stirring in her chest happened around both boys and girls, and consequently, she had had relationships with both. She kept those flings alive as long as she felt the stirring, and when she got bored she dropped them; the Isle was not a place for emotional connections, but those that were purely physical were all too common.

Mal longed for that feeling with Ben; she would feel a flash of it when she looked at an especially attractive stranger, or when someone she couldn’t help but notice was beautiful tried to flirt with her. When she finally, and tearfully, admitted to herself that she would never feel that kind of love for Ben, she let him know too. Ben, the ever-gracious Prince, had clearly been upset, but he was raised to be so infuriatingly good that he simply hugged Mal tightly and told her that he wanted her to be happy, and if it wasn’t with him, that was alright. Mal had been torn between crying and punching him in the face for his graciousness. If she was being honest, Mal had somewhat been hoping for a mad Ben, one who would plead with her to stay and get angry and shout because he loved her too much to lose her, and invoke some of that fire Mal desperately wished for; but he was calm and collected, which only solidified her decision. Mal had settled on crying on Ben’s shoulder, but also felt an immense amount of relief. Relief that she was sure Evie now felt, even though she could hear her sniffling into the mattress over hurting Doug.

Mal shoved Evie’s shoulder to get her to scoot over, and laid beside her. Evie also flipped around to stare at the ceiling. Mal took her hand that was lying between them and entwined their fingers. She simultaneously squeezed Evie’s hand and asked, “What happened E?” Evie squeezed her hand back and took a deep, shaky breath, quelling her tears, before turning her head to look at Mal.

* * *

 

_Evie_

As she gazed at the profile of her best friend, Evie couldn’t help the flash of irrational anger that ran through her. Not at Mal, or course, but anger at herself. Anger for breaking the heart of one of her closest friends and one of the kindest souls, anger that she couldn’t feel what she was supposed to with Doug, and anger at herself for the swooping in her belly that started every time she looked at Mal. To distract herself, she looked at Mal’s deep purple hair spread out behind her head, contrastingly beautifully with her porcelain skin. Evie often wished she had Mal’s talent with a pencil, so she could capture her roommate’s beauty on paper.

She knew that Mal was waiting for her to respond, but she couldn’t put into words why exactly she had broken up with Doug when she still wasn’t sure of the reason herself. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Things were fine, we were studying outside under that big oak tree I love, and I looked up to see Doug looking at me with such love,” Evie stammered over that word, “in his eyes and I just blurted out that I wanted to break up.”

Mal raised one sharp eyebrow at her, the look in her eyes clearly telling Evie that she wanted the rest of the story. Evie wasn’t one to make rash decisions, that was Mal’s specialty, and they both knew it. “I just got scared I guess.” Even as she said those words she knew that they were false, and Mal looked pointedly at her. She tried again, “I just wasn’t ready for that level of commitment.” She said it almost as a question and Mal gave her that look again. Evie sighed and sat up suddenly in bed, throwing her hands in the air and letting them fall back into her lap, “I couldn’t feel for him what I should have. There, are you happy?” She glared at her best friend as she said those words, knowing that her anger was misplaced but also that Mal wouldn’t mind.

Mal took a second to respond, sitting up as well so she was mirroring Evie’s position on the bed, “What do you think you are supposed to feel?” Evie shrugged, “Some sort of interest or attraction to him? I think that I was just so overjoyed to had found someone who liked me, the real me, that I didn’t even notice that I didn’t really feel any more for him then I do for Jay or Carlos or Ben.” She specifically didn’t include Mal in her list, knowing that whatever she felt for her best friend was something else, and something she had simply decided to ignore.

Mal nodded contemplatively, and looked at Evie quizzically, appearing deep in thought. “Do you feel that way for any of the other guys at school?” Evie considered the questions, “No, but I’m sure I will. I mean I was literally raised to marry a prince, although I’ve got bigger ambitions now, it’s still ingrained in me, Mother made damn sure of that.” She said the last part bitterly, thinking over her daily lessons on the Isle, on everything from makeup, to the art of seduction, to etiquette, even to sex, which never failed to simultaneously mortify and disgust her. “E, you know that you deserve so much more than some spoiled prince, but someone who values and adores you for _you_. Someone that you truly love, no matter who they are.” Mal’s eyes were unsarcastically soft, which melted Evie’s heart a little bit more. She continued speaking, her voice soft, “What about girls?”

Evie could feel the confused look that took over her face as she questioned “Girls?” Mal rolled her eyes, unable to restrain her snarky attitude even around her best friend, “Yes E. Do you like girls? Instead of boys?” Evie opened her mouth to respond and then closed it again. Did she like girls? She had never considered the option, never even really acknowledged that there was an option for her. She knew that Mal was bisexual, she had quite the reputation on the Isle for breaking hearts of both genders, and really, people on the Isle had better things to do than waste energy caring who was screwing who, but, her mother was another story. Since she could comprehend words, Evie’s mother filled her head with her future; becoming a beautiful, complacent, and perfect wife for a rich prince, living in a grandiose castle surrounded by her children. Although there were still some people who clung hard to the old-fashioned formula of a man with a woman, including her mother, Evie knew that it was okay to like whomever you liked, she had just never thought that the notion could apply to her as well. She was raised to be the perfect complement to a prince, not a princess.

With that thought on her mind Evie quickly shook her head at Mal, who had waited patiently while she puzzled through her thoughts. She then enforced her position out loud, “No, that’s not it. I like boys, I just haven’t found the right one yet.” She said it a little more forcefully then she intended to, and she thought she saw a quick flash of doubt in Mal’s eyes before she quickly schooled her expression into a lazy smile and thankfully dropped the subject.

“So, E, as a newly single woman, I think we should celebrate!” Evie scoffed, “I do not want to celebrate breaking Doug’s heart! He was devastated, I feel awful.” Mal replied, “E, I’m sure he was upset, but he will always care for you, that kind of love doesn’t go away, it just changes, and he will move on. Also, you can’t lie to me, I know that you are relieved to not be dating him anymore.” Evie didn’t like the word “relieved”, that made it sound like it was torture being with Doug, but she knew that Mal was right, she felt lighter than she had in months.

“Come on! We can get a group together and go into town, I’m sure that Fairy Godmother would literally give you anything that you wanted. And if we rope in Ben she’s sure to say yes, how much trouble could we get in with the heir to the throne around? Aaaaaand you could make our outfits.” At that, Evie knew that Mal had won and from the look on her face, Mal knew it as well. She smiled victoriously and locked Evie in a tight hug, the blue haired girl mumbled into her hair “I hate you.” The effect of the words ruined by the teasing tone. Mal laughed at that and extricated herself from Evie’s arms to look into her eyes, double checking that she wasn’t actually upset. What she found must have confirmed the teasing tone, because she smiled even bigger and bounced off the bed, phone already in head.

“I’m going to set up the group text to everyone, you go talk to Fairy Godmother,” this was punctuated with a pointed finger at Evie, “and I’ll find a bar that will serve everyone.” Evie rolled her eyes at that, one thing that Mal has been quite taken with on Auradon was alcohol. The stuff they had here was leagues away from the burning moonshine they made on the Isle. Of course they had all gotten smashed off it at one point or another, Jay even maintained that Jafar had given him moonshine as a child because it “makes a stronger man”, but Evie doubted that because you wouldn’t waste a precious commodity like that on a child, also, Jay had spit out the first shot that he ever tried, which Evie though tasted comparatively pleasant to the Isle’s moonshine. Here, alcohol, although not allowed on campus, was plentiful, and a carefully worded threat from an Isle kid was sure to keep the drinks flowing all night long even to those who weren’t of Auradon’s approved drinking age, which included Mal, much to her annoyance. Evie was more of the type that enjoyed a nice glass of wine, while Mal and Jay would drink anything they could get their hands on, their favorite being the insanely strong well drinks that almost no one else could stomach.

Mal jumped up from the couch that she had been sitting on, texting furiously, “Eves, come on we are going to all get dinner and make plans.” Mal noticed the immediate drop in Evie’s face at the thought of seeing Doug again so soon, “I checked with Rob, Doug is in the room and won’t be joining us for dinner.” Evie nodded, the ball of anxiety that had begun to form in her stomach immediately loosening. She wandered into the bathroom, yanking a brush through her hair and reapplying mascara, wiping off the black that had gathered under her eyes from her tears. When she came out of the bathroom Mal handed her her shoes and she pulled them on. Mal grabbed her hand and led her out of their room, and Evie tried desperately to ignore the slight flutter of her heart at Mal’s touch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dont exactly know where this story is going, but I hope you guys still enjoy the ride! I don't write often, so comments give me much needed validation, I also love critiques. Thanks for reading!  
> *(this chapter includes alcohol consumption)

_Evie_

Evie could count the times that she had been seriously mad at Mal on one hand, and that included tonight. If she were to really examine her feelings, she would have known that she wasn’t really mad at Mal, just at the idea she had suggested that Evie had since been unable to get away from. However, it was easier for her to be mad at Mal than to think, which her mind was desperately trying to get her to do.

Ever since Mal had suggested to Evie that she might like girls, she could think of little else, and it was driving her insane. Sure, she thought about her best friend in a way that was slightly more than platonic, and yes, she could admit that girls were beautiful, and yes, sometimes she felt her heart drop into her stomach when she looked at Mal, and yes, sometimes she caught herself wondering if girl’s lips were as soft as they looked. But was she gay? Absolutely not. Evie shook her head to herself as if to reinforce her thoughts and looked around the packed bar. She had been standing at the sticky bar, valiantly trying to get the attention of a bartender, for at least 10 minutes and she was starting to get impatient.

Out on the dance floor, Mal was undulating her hips with her hands up in the air, eyes closed and turned toward the ceiling. She was with their friends, but no one got too close to her; Mal was electric when she was dancing, and Evie meant that literally. If she got too carried away she had been known to unknowingly shoot sparks from her fingertips, and after Jay got showered in sparks one night, everyone kept a safe distance from her when she was in the zone. As she was staring at her, Mal’s eyes snapped open, bright green with barley contained magic, and locked her eyes on Evie, whose heart almost stopped at the sultry look in her best friend’s eyes. Mal gave her a wide smile and waved her back to the dance floor, Evie held up a finger to signal one minute and Mal smiled again and turned her face back toward the ceiling, closing those mesmerizing eyes.

“That your friend?” Evie looked to her side to see who was speaking to her, it was a boy she didn’t recognize, he looked about her age and, Evie could tell, was heartbreakingly beautiful, although she noted this fact without much feeling. Evie nodded, “Yes, her name is Mal.” The guy replied with a crooked grin and downed the rest of drink he was holding, “She’s absolutely amazing, wish me luck.” He said as he moved towards the dance floor and tried to weave his way towards Mal.

Evie tried to look at her best friend objectively; her hair was loose and waving gently to her shoulders, her skin lit up with the blue and green lights of the dance floor, making her look ethereal. Her best friend was petite and compact, but she exuded an energy and confidence that made her seem larger than life. She was wearing an outfit that Evie had just finished last night, a lace up, studded leather corset top and tight leather pants; Evie had to admit that she looked stunning and as her eyes traced the movement of her friend’s hips she felt the flaring of a desire so strong that it was almost painful.

She gasped and quickly turned back to the bar, snagging a bartender and ordering their drinks, and well as a couple shots so she could get her head back on straight. Straight being the operative word. She quickly gulped down two large shots of the whiskey, took the drinks and marched back to the dance floor, determined to quell these feelings for Mal with someone suitable. It had been too long since Evie had had any intimate contact, Doug was so sweet and innocent, the most they had done during their relationship was chaste kisses. Evie was desperate for some contact, that’s why her best friend suddenly looked so appealing, she rationalized with herself.

When she breached the circle of her friends, Mal had decreased her energy from literally magical to normal, and was half dancing half talking to Jay. When she saw Evie she pulled her to her side, took her drink and sucked half of it down, while holding Evie close to her side. Up close, Evie could see the slightly hazy quality of her friend’s usually sharp jade eyes and Mal leaned close to speak to her over the pounding of the music. Evie completely lost all focus of what Mal was saying, and instead was staring at her best friend’s lips, smudged with the remnants of the red lipstick Evie had carefully applied back in the dorm. Afraid of what she would do if she stared at Mal’s lips any longer, Evie ducked out from under her arm and nodded her head at whatever she was saying.

From her periphery, she noted the guy that had talked to her at the bar and who had wanted to pursue Mal. He had a defeated look on his face, and she figured that Mal had turned him down. She stalked over to him, lowering her eyelids and her voice (her mother’s teaching hadn’t all been for naught) and asked him if he wanted to dance. Under the flashing lights she must have looked a suitable replacement because a wide smile broke across his face as she dragged him to the floor, immediately backing up against him as his hands found their way to her hips.

She tried not to, but her gaze kept stealing over to Mal, who was dancing and laughing with Carlos. When she caught Evie’s gaze, she appraised the guy behind her and gave her a sly thumbs-up, and Evie plastered a happy smile on her face. Before long, the guy, whose name she never bothered to ask, flipped her around so they were dancing chest to chest. Evie could feel the warmth of the alcohol making its way through her body, and not being accustomed to hard liquor, she giggled at the freeing feeling that was spreading her through body. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that her best friend was gorgeous, or that Evie was all kinds of fucked up about her sexuality, but she felt loose and the guy looked better through the haze of whiskey, so Evie pulled him down until she felt his lips on hers.

 

* * *

 

_Mal_  

Mal was in heaven. One of her favorite releases was dancing. Feeling the vibrations of the music through her body, the full body shock when there was a drop, the colors spilling over her skin, and the thrill of magic running through her body. Mal usually wasn’t this in tune with her magic, in fact, growing up without access to her magic had seriously impacted her ability to reach it, a fact that she was careful to never let anyone else know, besides Evie and Fairy Godmother who was working on developing her magic with her. People thought that she had more magic than she did, because her eyes were constantly flaring green when her temper rose, which was often. Truthfully, her magic usually felt like a small trickle, that she had to concentrate and dig deep to access. She only seemed to have conscious control of her magic when she was extremely angry or extremely happy.

And I mean, yes, she did turn into a dragon that one time, but since the cotillion, she had been unable to even summon a single scale. Her friend’s lives also had not been in danger (despite Jay claiming that Chemistry class was actually going to kill him) which is what she assumed prompted the change. And aside from actually putting her friends in literal danger to test her theory, she had decided to let a sleeping dragon lie for the time being.

But when she danced, she was completely at peace, and she could feel the magic thrumming through her body, but, she had to be careful not to let it overpower her. Fairy Godmother kept insisting that she had very powerful magic, and she could be capable of extreme acts that could have severe consequences. Mal mostly thought this was bullshit, and a way for Fairy Godmother to make her feel better about making virtually no progress with their lessons. But sometimes, in these moments where she could feel the magic, almost if it were a separate being from herself, she thought that maybe she caught a glimpse of that power that she supposedly had.

Plus, Jay had been really mad at her the last time that they went out and she accidently showered him with sparks, burning little tiny holes in his jacket. Actually, Evie had been way more worried about the jacket than anything else, like her best friend shooting sparks. Evie just seemed to expect Mal to do extraordinary things, so she never seemed to be surprised when she did.

Speaking of Evie, she glanced back towards the bar to see what was taking her friend so long. She saw her talking to a tall guy at the bar, from the haze the lights caused and the fuzzy feeling of alcohol in her brain, she was unable to tell if the guy was cute, but she was still happy that Evie seemed eager to move on. If there was a sting of jealously in her chest, she valiantly ignored it. It wasn’t until he started weaving his way towards her, that Mal realized he hadn’t been flirting with Evie, but asking about her. Mal groaned out loud, not in the mood to deal with grabby boys, and really, what boy with eyes would go for her over Evie?

Evie, usually the picture of perfection, was especially flawless tonight. She was wearing a skin tight, black leather dress that had had Mal in a state of disbelief when she first emerged from the bathroom in it. It hugged her curves like a glove, short enough to leave long, tanned legs on display, and low cut enough that Mal had to keep reminding herself that this was her best friend, not some girl she could pin up against a wall. Which she wanted desperately to do. Her make-up was flawless as usual and a dark smoky eye made her look every bit of an Isle girl, while her grace and poise reflected the Auradon in her.  

Jay must have heard her groan because he slid up next to her and shouted over the thumping bass in her ear “What’s wrong?” Mal gestured to the guy still pushing his way through the crowd towards her, “I thought he was hitting up Evie at the bar but apparently that wasn’t what his plan was.” Jay gave her a look that wasn’t as sympathetic as she had hoped. He knew that she had absolutely no issue telling anyone to fuck off, and he didn’t stay by her side because he thought she needed protection, but so he could witness it if this guy got reamed by Mal. 

Carlos, oblivious to the conversation, was dancing in a manner that could only be described as absolutely mental. While their friends kept their distance from Mal when she was dancing because they didn’t want to be involved in the next sparkler show, people gave Carlos a wide berth because of his constantly and unpredictable flailing limbs. Carlos was already a gangly kid, with arms and legs that seemed to long for his body, and when he danced, it was even more apparent as he threw his limbs around and appeared to lose complete control over his body. Last time they went out, Carlos had given Jane a black eye, accidently whacking her in the face with an errant elbow when she got a little too close. Mal was under the impression that Jane had a crush on Carlos, but after the elbow incident she seemed to have decided against pursuing him. Carlos always looked vaguely uncomfortable when Jane flirted with him, and Mal wondered for a brief second if, unconsciously, he may have done it intentionally.

The guy that Evie had been talking to had finally reached Mal and he looked at her with a hopeful expression. She gave him a quick once over, he was cute, but in a buttoned-up polo and perfectly pressed khakis, he was far from Mal’s type. She simply shook her head at him and he frowned and moved to the outskirts of their group. Jay looked disappointed there hadn’t been a more violent turn down, but started back up shouting in Mal’s ear about some group gossip.

Finally, Mal spied Evie breaking through the crowd, and as soon as she was in arm’s length she pulled her best friend close to her side and took possession of her drink. Evie looked a little out of it, and Mal leaned down to ask her if she was okay, but instead of responding to her, she could have sworn Evie was staring at her lips. Before she could really be sure, Evie pulled out from her grip, nodded distractedly even though there was no way she heard what Mal said, and determinedly marched over to the guy who had tried to dance with Mal. Within seconds, they were dancing back to back and Evie looked so goddamn hot that Mal had to look away. She also wanted to rip that guys hands off for touching Evie, and turned away so Evie wouldn’t see her eyes glowing. But it wasn’t like Mal was jealous or anything.

Mal really wasn’t sure if Evie was gay or not, when she had asked her after she had broken up with Doug, she wasn’t expecting Evie to think so hard about it, or for her vehement denial. Evie knew that Mal was bisexual, almost all of the people on the Isle had experimented at some point, but Mal was pretty sure that Evie never showed any inclination towards being interested in females. Mal knew more about Evie’s mother, and the “lessons” she taught her, than the rest of their friends, and it was easy for her to see where dating a girl disrupted the schema that her mother had created for her.

They were all slowly learning that many, and in some cases, all, of the things their parents had taught them were wrong. They were wrong about how the world worked, about Auradon, about goodness, and about love. Mal had assumed that Evie had managed to work through what her mother had ingrained in her over the years, for fucks sake, Evie had picked Doug, the antithesis of her mother’s wishes, over a literal prince charming in the form of Chad Charming.

Evie seemed to have assimilated the best to Auradon, regardless of where she was raised, she had been born a princess. But, maybe, Mal was wrong. Maybe her best friend’s apparent adaptation was a front. She had defied her mother and what had always been expected of her, but not in the way she maybe longed to. If she was that deep in denial, it was going to take something drastic for her to come to the conclusion that Mal already had.

But Mal also couldn’t take her analysis as totally objective, she loved Evie and she had long ago resigned herself to only having Evie as a best friend. She had loved Ben too, but she hadn’t felt that swoop in her chest or sweating in her palms that she sometimes did around her best friend. Usually, Mal was able to push and bury her desires in a very deep crevice in her mind. She needed Evie in her life, and only wanted her to be happy, and if she viewed Mal as nothing more than a best friend, she could live with that. But after their conversation last week, Mal had been unable to squash down the hope that had blossomed in her chest. And seeing Evie tonight, in that outfit, almost completely broke Mal down. But she knew that Evie needed to muddle through her feelings on her own, without Mal pushing her. Mal would be nothing more than best friend, only until, and if, Evie decided she wanted to explore something more. She would dance with her friends and resist pulling Evie in to dance with her, she would be courteous and push absolutely no boundaries until she was sure Evie was ready, especially since they had both been drinking. Mal nodded to herself with resolve, happy with her idea.

Of course, like most well laid plans, it went to shit fairly quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the other two, but the next chapter will be longer, I am almost done writing it so I will have it up for you soon. Thank you so much for reading and leaving kudos, and most of all THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO COMMENTED it means the world. This chapter also picks off right where the second one left off, so you may want to reread to refresh your memory :)

_Evie_

She pulled back from the guy who had been, Evie was pretty sure, attempting to suction her lips off with his own. Not only was he a horrendous kisser, but Evie, even under the lull of the alcohol, quickly realized that his kisses were not doing anything to diminish the desire that had now become a low ache. The guy moved his attention to her neck, and before he could leave anything more lasting than spit on her, she stepped back from him, giving him an apologetic smile. She yelled over the music “Sorry, I’m not feeling well, I have to go to the bathroom. Thanks for dancing!” Evie was unable to be impolite, although she reflected that she may have been a little too nice, because the guy just grinned foolishly at her and said, “Hurry back!”

She rolled her eyes and pushed her way through the dancing mass towards the relief of the bathroom. There was, of course, a line, and Evie sucked down the rest of the drink that she had managed to hang on to throughout the dancing. She knew that she was very quickly reaching her limit, but at this point she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was confused, angry, and, frankly, horny, and to hell with it, she was going to have a good night. She finally reached a bathroom stall and closed herself in, trying hard not to listen to the sounds of puking in the stall next to her.

She closed her eyes and tried to compose herself, as one does when they are drunk and certainly not composed, and as soon as she realized this she started giggling, realizing that she had reached the level of intoxicated that was still safe but enough for her to stop thinking. She flushed the toilet she didn’t use, steadied the girl behind her who almost face planted into the toilet while stumbling into the stall, and finger combed her hair. From what she could tell in the grimy bathroom mirror, her makeup still looked okay, so she weaved her way out of the restroom and made a stop at the quieter bar at the back of the club. She ordered another two shots, and lazily glanced over the dancing crowd as she waited.

Her eyes unerringly fixed on two girls who were dancing in a manner similar to how Evie had been dancing with that guy. She watched them, the taller girl sliding her hands up and down the smaller girl’s hips, pulling her back into her body and dropping a kiss on her neck. At this, the girl in front arched up and turned around, so swiftly that before Evie could blink the two girls were engaged in a passionate lip lock. Evie had to look away, not because she was uncomfortable, but because she wanted that with a fierce longing. The sight stirring something in her that emboldened her, that made her unafraid to imagine a future with not a prince, but a princess. Evie knew that this realization would have complications in the morning, but for now, Evie downed the two shots the bartender handed to her and weaved her way through the crowd back to Mal.

Mal was dancing with Carlos, or as close as anyone could come to dancing with Carlos. She looked like she was more dodging all his erratic movements while also trying valiantly to follow the music. Evie slipped up behind her and wrapped her arms around her friend’s small waist, squeezing gently and slurring into her ear, “Hiii Mal!” Mal turned around to get a better look at her friend, “Evie, what have you been up to?” She asked while wagging a finger at her like scolding parent, there was a slight slur to her words that told Evie her friend wasn’t as sober as she appeared. A genuine laugh erupted from Evie’s mouth and she shrugged. Mal narrowed her eyes at her, trying to appear stern, “How many drinks have you had tonight E?” Evie thought for a moment, and held up three fingers, before quickly changing her mind and holding up six- that was at least somewhat close to the actual number. Mal shook her head at her, but her eyes danced with mirth.

Before she could be scolded, Evie pulled Mal closer to her and began dancing. While not as good of a dancer as Mal, Evie enjoyed dancing and she reasoned that she was not as terrible as, say, Carlos. She noted that Mal kept a healthy, friendly distance between them, but Evie had already made her decision tonight, so she pushed forward until she was within inches of her best friend. If Mal thought Evie was behaving strangely she didn’t show it, but she also didn’t attempt to widen the distance between them again. They danced and jumped with the rest of the crowd and giggled when they fell into each other. Evie’s elated smile matched Mal’s own, and for a few moments, Evie pretended that she could be whoever she wanted to be, and was just a girl, dancing with another beautiful girl.

An indefinite amount of time later, as the club started to empty out, Evie started to sober up. She tucked her sweat slicked hair behind her ears and smiled at Mal, who was still alive with energy and still looked as good as she had when the night had started, which was completely unfair. When she noticed Evie just standing staring at her, Mal started to slow down too, but, never having been the most graceful, lost her balance and crashed right into Evie. She immediately grabbed on to the girl to steady her, both hands firmly gripping Mal’s forearms. Mal put a hand on Evie’s shoulder to steady herself, and with Mal’s heels on, they were almost at eye level.

Unbeknownst to them, the boys had started a very small, rather pathetic mosh pit behind the girls, and as Chad slammed into Carlos who was at the edge of the ring, he also slammed into Mal, mashing the two girls' faces together. They bumped noses and started to draw back, but both paused when they realized that their lips were a millimeter apart. All Evie could see were Mal’s eyes, completed dominated by a blown wide pupil and she wanted nothing more than to close that gap between her and her best friend. Mal wasn’t moving, but her eyes were slanted, fixed squarely on Evie’s lips and she knew with certainty that at that moment, Mal wanted nothing more than to kiss her too. Seeming unaware of what she was even doing, Mal’s hand that rested on her shoulder slowly slid up to cup her face and Evie was unable to stop herself from leaning into its warmth. Mal then started to gently rub her thumb across Evie’s lips, which parted of their own volition. They had officially passed the amount of time that was normal to spend this close to your best friend’s lips, and Evie was pretty positive her heart was about to beat out of her ribcage.

She actually forgot to breathe when Mal’s thumb caressed her lips, and as she got slightly dizzy, Evie almost felt as if she were watching her and Mal from outside of her body. If she had been, she would have seen two girls, looking at each other with adoring but desperate eyes, and each seconds from closing the miniscule gap separating them.

Before either of them could act on their desires, Chad, who Evie disliked even on a good day, and who was drunk enough that he was entirely oblivious to the tension in the air between them, slung his arms around them and gave a rowdy cheer. This snapped both girls out of their trance and Evie sucked in a long and desperate breath while Mal glared at Chad, her eyes glowing a green that made even Evie a little nervous. Before Mal could decide if she was actually going to burn Chad to a crisp (Evie thought she looked possible of just that, despite the fact that she had never shown any ability with fire aside from her dragon form), the rowdy group of boys came over, all still a little drunk and laughing and talking.

Evie quickly separated herself from Mal and lost herself in the babble, trying to clear her head from the fog Mal had left it in and also trying to forget what had almost just happened. She couldn’t place her emotions, and was tired and still tipsy enough that she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and wait for tomorrow to face what had happened tonight.

 

* * *

 

_Mal_  

As soon as she opened the door to their dorm, Evie made a beeline for her bed. She kicked off her shoes on the way and sprawled on top of the covers. Mal knew that she would be asleep within minutes, which was good, because she needed time alone to have a complete freak out.

Mal wasn’t one to give easily into her emotions, but as she undressed and stepped into the already steaming shower, she couldn’t help but let her back hit the cold tile and slide down to sit under the steam of water, something she used to do all the time when she was upset on the Isle. Being the daughter of the evilest villain on the island had its perks, and one of those was a shower, but no hot water of course. When her mother’s demands and expectations and cruelty got to be too much for her, Mal would lock herself in the bathroom, which was the only door in the house that had a handle that Mal had been able to jerry-rig a lock on. If she turned on the shower and sat under the running water, no matter how loud her mother was yelling outside of the door, the water would be all she could hear. It would calm her, and she could cry her heart out knowing her mother couldn’t hear her.

Today, sitting in a vastly different Auradon bathtub, Mal didn’t cry. She wasn’t upset per say, she was confused, and disappointed in herself. She had promised herself that she would be nothing more than a friend to Evie, no matter what, but her self control had shattered pathetically easily as soon as Evie started dancing with her. She kept sliding closer, and Mal didn’t have the strength to back away from the beautiful girl, especially when Evie was wearing that dress and looking at her through hooded eyes with slightly smudged eyeliner that only made her look sexier. She was an absolute weakling.

Frustrated, Mal slammed the back of her head into the tile behind her, immediately regretting her actions when she realized that this would only add to the throbbing in her head that she was sure to experience from her hangover. But really, she was so frustrated with herself. How was she supposed to give Evie space and time to come to her own conclusion about her feelings when she couldn’t even be within two feet of the girl without trying to kiss her.

Their almost kiss. Mal had been positive that if Chad hadn’t interrupted them with his spectacularly miserable timing, one of them would have pushed forward that last inch to kiss the other. Mal thought that it would only be herself temped by Evie’s lips, but when Evie seemed just as entranced as Mal did, she had been unable to contain herself. She remembered running her thumb against Evie’s lips, they were so soft and full and Mal was getting herself worked up just thinking about her best friend’s lips. She rapidly turned the shower to cold and mentally chastised herself. But was it so wrong? Evie had appeared to be seconds from kissing her too. But she was also drunk, that explained it, right? She had just broken up with Doug, she was lonely, drunk, and when she found herself within inches of Mal she just momentarily forgot herself. Mal reasoned with herself that it explained her best friend’s behavior.

As for her own behavior, she was just weak and completely entranced by Evie. Her mother had always touted that love made you weak, and Mal couldn’t deny that it was true. But it also made her strong, because she knew that she would do whatever possible to make Evie happy, and that love bolstered her.

Mal stood up to finish washing up, and by the time she had ended her shower, she had decided that she would simply follow Evie’s lead, but she would not push her. She would allow herself to respond if Evie initiated some sort of interaction, but that was it. That was a compromise that she figured she could live with, although it was quite possible that Evie was going to be the death of her.

____ 

The next morning was met with a groan from both of the girls, although Evie’s was significantly louder than Mal’s. After showering, Mal had gulped down water and aspirin, and as a result, she only felt as though half of her brain was trying to beat its way out of her skull, instead of the whole thing. “How you feeling E?”

Mal had also decided that she was going to be completely normal around her best friend, sure her stomach was in knots and goddamn it her palms were sweating again, but her voice was at least composed. All Mal got in response was a groan. That was enough for Mal to fill a glass with water from the tap and pour three aspirin into her palm, she sat on Evie’s bed and eventually got the grumbling girl to sit up and take the pills. Evie looked a mess, her dress had hiked up around her waist while she slept, and Mal was careful to keep her eyes solely on Evie’s face, although that made her giggle.

“What?” Evie demanded. “Sorry E, but you just have makeup absolutely everywhere.” Mal savored seeing this side of Evie, the natural, messy Evie; the Evie that most of the world never got see, Mal was pretty sure this was when she was at her most beautiful. She also had glitter clumped on her cheek, and Mal gently scraped it off her face. She was pretty sure that she heard Evie stop breathing, and an undeniable blush creeped across her cheeks. But Mal studiously ignored it all, committing herself to her resolution to be the friend that her best friend needed.

She held up the glitter now caked on her finger, “So where did you get into glitter last night?” When Evie seemed to realize that Mal wasn’t immediately going to launch into a conversation about their almost kiss, she relaxed the stiff posture of her shoulders and flopped back into her pillows. “M I literally have no clue, but I have a feeling I’m going to be finding it everywhere for the next week.” Her comment was punctuated with a sigh and Mal laughed. She hedged a little bit, unable to help herself, “So, did you have fun last night?”

Evie avoided eye contact when she answered, fixing her gaze resolutely above Mal’s shoulder, “Yeah! It was just what I needed, although what I didn’t need was all that alcohol. Last night is such a blur.” Evie laughed, but Mal detected the false note in her tone, and that little bit of hope that was burning in her chest winked out. It was clear that Evie wanted to pretend that their almost kiss had not happened, even though it was slightly awkward because they both knew that the other knew it did indeed happen. But Mal could play the game if that’s what Evie wanted.

It was only with a slight drop in her voice that she responded, “Yeah, totally crazy night, but I for sure needed all that dancing! I’m going to go find Jay, he said he wanted me to kick his ass into gear and get him to run with me today.” Mal quickly made up a reason to leave the dorm, and silently apologized to Jay for the horror she was about to commit, waking him up to run. With a hangover. If Evie knew that her excuse was just that, an excuse, she didn’t show it, but rolled back over in bed, “Okay, I’m going to go back to sleep for a bit. Bye M.”


End file.
